


Act Under Pressure

by SamanthaGirlScout



Category: The Unexplored Places (Podcast)
Genre: Deliverance Arc, Especially Remedy, F/F, Fix-It, Post Season 1, Post-Canon Fix-It, Spoilers for Season 1, Unexploredcastmas, We don't explain we just say it didn't happen and move on, let everyone have a nice Christmas season damnit, she deserves it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21844534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamanthaGirlScout/pseuds/SamanthaGirlScout
Summary: Remedy's secret girlfriend wants to surprise her for Christmas and Van will be damned if anything gets in the way of that happening.
Relationships: Remedy (The Unexplored Places/Girl from Canada (The Unexplored Places)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7
Collections: Unexploredcastmas





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please note, this really shouldn't be read if you haven't finished Deliverance Arc of The Unexplored Places. If you don't mind spoilers then go right ahead, but please keep this in mind going forward!

Van is pretty sure that it'd be an understatement to say that everyone is busy.

Lance and Byrdie have been pretty scarce since the last hunt. He knows they'll come around eventually. But, from his understanding, they both have a lot to work though. So he never presses more than to drop by the library with a muffin whenever he can.

Chase… has been busy, but not in any constructive sense of the word. Perhaps not completely out of character, there was just something about the way that they had nearly lost Lance that'd struck a chord with him. It's almost as if he's doing all he can to forget what happened and move on. Though how obsessively searching through Faith's notes helps a person to move on, is far beyond Van's understanding of human behavior.

Van can't really blame him, though. Still, Chase's affect is certainly something that he's been keeping an eye on. He's a wild card, especially when he believes that he's on his own with something. An attitude that has certainly proven to be dangerous, and something that Van doesn't necessarily want to end up burning the whole Farmhouse down over.

Rowan… Is still an enigma that he'd love to crack open one of these days. But, Hazel's taken up that mission for herself. Showing up at the Farmhouse more often than not, hanging out with Rowan… She's been an unexpected addition to the house and Van can't say that he minds all that much. 

Especially when the three of them end up spending time with each other.

Playing games, chatting, teaching Rowan to drive… All of it has been a pleasant distraction from it all. And, most notably, Rowan has proven to be quite companionable, given the chance. 

And lastly, Remedy. She's been stretched much further than ever before. Everyone at the Farmhouse has been helping her all they can. Or at least all that she'll allow them to. Van may not be completely on top of everything, but he hasn't failed to notice how much stress Remedy has been under since Zeke's self-excommunication.

Because, while he and Remedy were intimately aware of how much Zeke did on a monster-hunting level, Zeke didn't clue any of them in on the fact that he was doing so much more in the community at large. Like how much he'd worked to incorporate the youth group even further into the community when they all weren't quite paying attention. And now Remedy is stuck with carrying out those responsibilities that come with such an endeavor while excusing Zeke's absence with white lies.

Van does his best to help out. Because while it might be his last year at school, he'd made a point to take the heaviest courses his junior year, leaving him with plenty of time to help with the youth group as best he can. 

Because, to top it all off, Zeke signed their group up to perform a Christmas Play in the Community Christmas Celebration on Christmas Eve.

Remedy is pretty mum about it all until Van finds her one night at a whiteboard, trying her best to map out her days leading up to the event. How she thought that she could get away with only two hours of sleep until Christmas was beside him. 

He hadn't quite realized until then just how much was expected of her until then. But, once he saw such a short window of time for herself, he immediately took an eraser to half of it and made his own little schedule. She'd tried to object, but he wouldn't hear any of it. They could share until they had a chance to readjust the duties to some of the other members as well. 

Remedy was still pretty peeved over being told what to do, but he could also see just how relieved she was to not be doing this alone. 

So, despite what others might think, Van thinks it's quite serendipitous when he is the one to pick up the house phone, one late November afternoon.

After all, who else would be able to orchestrate the greatest heist in the history of the Kindred without giving themselves away? 

"This is Van," he says, slightly out of breath from running from the kitchen to the phone.

"Oh," a feminine voice says, surprised. "Hello, Van. This is Nessa, is Remedy there by any chance?"

"No. She's gone to a meeting. I can take a message tho—"

"Oh good, I was hoping she wasn't!" Nessa says, sighing a big sigh of relief into the receiver. "See, I actually had a favor to ask of you."

"A favor? What kind? I can't exactly promise that I can say yes, though. Especially since I don't know you."

"Oh, Sorry. Has Remedy not mentioned me before…?"

"No. She doesn't necessarily talk about her personal life a whole lot."

That's only marginally correct. Remedy talks about her personal life. It's just that she has a terrible habit of not mentioning important bits. Like an allergy to walnuts until after she'd taken a few polite bites of Van's world famous banana nut muffins. Or having a cousin until they're all road tripping to Niagara Falls to wipe said cousin's memory. 

Y'know, the stuff normal people might mention. 

"I… see." Nessa pauses for a while. "Well, this certainly makes things a bit more complicated."

"It does."

They both wait in the most awkward of silences Van has ever experienced. And then, when he thinks that this stranger is going to give up on whatever they'd planned on doing and ending the phone call…

"Well, I guess there's no way to be subtle about this: I'm hoping to visit Remedy for Christmas as a surprise. It's not too far away to where you all are, so all I'd need help with is finding a good place to surprise her. I'll even make sure to find somewhere to stay."

"No offense, but how do I know she'd want to see you?" For all he knows, this Nessa person could be an obsessed ex. Which, if he's being honest, he really doesn't have the patience to deal with politely at the moment. 

"Well, we meet nearly a year ago now and have been dating for over six months. _Which,_ she's apparently kept a secret." A pause, and then Nessa gasps, clearly horrified. "Wait. Oh god. Is she not out? Oh no, _Oh_ _no_ —"

Van laughs.. "Oh don't worry, she's _definitely_ out." Memories of many a late night talk comes to mind. Despite her history of keeping things to herself, it still baffles him that she wouldn't gush at least a little bit about something like this.

Still.

"Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if she's just been too busy to mention you… Did she come visit you this summer? Is that where she went? She kept saying she was going with her cousin to Canada again, but she never got any more specific than that…"

Now it's Nessa's turn to laughs "Yes. We didn't exactly have a whole lot of time when we first met so—"

"Wait." Van's mind comes to a screeching halt. "Are you telling me that Remedy has been dating you, the unknown Canadian girl that _she definitely_ had a crush on, this whole time? And didn't even tell me?!"

"Yes? Please don't say anything, though. If she finds out you know beforehand, it'd give away the surprise!"

Van runs a hand down his face. He's really got to talk to Remedy about how this whole keeping secrets from your friend thing works. He's missed out on so much gushing it nearly hurts to think about, but he pushes that down to focus on the task at hand.

"I'll keep it a secret, and help you out, but I'm _definitely_ giving her shit after you leave. She might be private, but she isn't normally _this_ private."

"Oh, no."

Van waves a hand. "Anyways, are you planning to drive or fly?"

"Flying and then renting a car. Toronto is pretty close, but there's no telling what the weather will be like. With my luck there'd be a meter of snow on the roads when I try to drive."

"Smart. You sure that you want to rent a car, though? I could come pick you up..."

"That's… kind of you. But, I'd like the option of taking my girl out on a date without her having to drive."

"That's fair. So, what exactly do you need from me then?"

"I need you to figure out a way to sneak me into your guy's… House? And then get Remedy to me so that I can surprise her.

"Sounds easy enough."

"Great. I'll plan to fly down the 23rd."

"Awesome. It shouldn't be _too_ hard to find a way to surprise her that day. What's your number?"

Van pulls out his own phone and creates a new contact labeled 'Remedy's girl.' They exchange numbers and then make plans to make more official arrangements for the surprise closer to the date.

He has to admit, as he hangs the phone back up on the wall, it's exciting to be in on a more fun secret for a change. Hopefully, this one will help Remedy relax a little bit. He'll probably have to take on an even more active role so that she has time to spend with her super-secret girlfriend. But that should be easy enough once finals are over.

Van smiles.

He can't wait to see the look on Remedy's face when he proves that he, in fact, _can_ keep a secret from her. He also looks forward to when she gets to see her girlfriend. 

But, mostly when he proves everyone wrong. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I took some advice and we're just... ignoring what happened at the end there. I love the ending, I really do, but I also love the idea of everyone having a nice Christmas/Holiday Season. So if we ever do return to Deliverance, please be kind as this fic will most certainly be ignoring that XD
> 
> I have five more planned that I'll be posting, but with my own Christmas plans I just couldn't get them edited fast enough. Anyways, thanks again and please let me know what you think so far! I was a little nervous to post this. This fandom is so much smaller than all of the others I've been in and so it's hard to gauge where to go with things since there are very few fics to read to get a good feel for what people like.


	2. Chapter 2

There's an annoying buzzing sound coming from Byrdie's nightstand.

He ignores it at first, of course. It's probably his alarm, which means it will stop after a minute and then go off again in fifteen. Then, after an hour goes by, he'll finally get up to the dulcet sounds of Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way'.

He starts drowsing, but then the buzzing is back, and far too soon for it to be any alarm. In fact the buzz is a bit longer, meaning…

Meaning whoever is on the other end of that phone must have a death wish.

Groaning loudly, Bydie picks up his phone. It takes a moment for Van's name to fully register in his mind. When it does he immediately starts mentally cursing him out.

How did Van miss the memo that that he's going to need at least a year to recover from the sect's bull shit?

"What do you  _ want _ Van?" Byrdie asks in lieu of a greeting. He throws an arm over his eyes and does his best to not wake up too much. Maybe it's something stupid and he can go back to sleep once he hangs up...

That's probably wishful thinking, but Byrdie can still hope.

"Good morning!" Van says, far brighter than any reasonable being has any right to be this early in the morning. "Sorry if I woke you!"

"If you're sorry, then hang up and let me go back to sleep."

"Sorry I—" Van stops himself. "I'm calling to ask for a favor."

"Yeah? And what could be so damn important at —" he lifts his arm to look at the alarm clock on his vanity. "Six-fucking-thirty in the morning!?"

"Well, perhaps I could have waited an hour... but—!"

"But?! Give me one good reason I shouldn’t hang up on you right now."

"I'll… I'll do anything?"

That piques Byride's interest enough for his arm to slip off of his face and to sit up in bed.

"Anything?"

"Save murder, yes."

"Damn. And here I thought I'd finally be rid of Chase…"

"Actually…"

Byrdie groans as he swings his legs over the side of his bed and trudges over towards his closet. He's pretty sure he knows where this is going to go. Though, no matter what Van wants him to do, he's going to look good doing it.

Best to get started now if he doesn't want to be rushed.

"Just tell me what's going on, Van," he sighs.

"Oh, thank you so much! I promise, whatever you want, okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah."

"Alright. So, I was supposed to order catering for rehearsal today, but I forgot to because I was helping Remedy make the set last night. Chase is heading out now. He'll be by to pick you up in the van. If you guys can put together about 50 sack lunches by noon I would love you two forever and always. And, again, I promise to do anything you want."

"Why aren't you and Remedy doing this?" Byrdie places his phone on speaker so that he can start weighing his clothing options before himself. He considers the lavender shirt in his hands.

Is it too cold out for a crop top?

"I have to help Remedy so that I know what I'm doing when—" Van pauses awkwardly enough to catch Byrdie's attention. 

Van rushes on before he can ask.

"A-and she's doing a lot already! You wouldn't believe all of the things Zeke left for her to do. And besides that, Rowan can't help because they're doing research for Remedy. And I'm pretty sure Lance is supposed to be studying for finals next week. So, you know, that leaves you guys."

Byrdie takes advantage of Van's pause.

"When what, Van?"

"W—  _ If _ she isn't able to do it. You know, direct the children on stage. Make it to the performance. You can never be too careful, you know."

"But why wouldn’t she be able to direct it herself?"

"She could get sick…"

"Are you planning to kill Remedy?!"

Byrdie isn't necessarily all that partial to the organization as a whole, but he can't say he'd want anything  _ bad _ to happen to any of them individually. Aside from Chase on occasion, but that's mostly because Chase is shifty as shit and he can never keep his mouth shut when he should.

And he might be a bit salty over Chase's parricidal tendencies. 

So, sue him.

"No!" Van groans. "Look, I can't say a whole lot because it's a surprise, but she's probably going to be pretty busy on Christmas Eve."

"What's she doing?"

"Again, that's a surprise. If I tell you, then it won't be a surprise anymore!"

"Tell you what; you tell me what's going on and we're square."

Byrdie isn't sure if he's made an adequate bargain, it  _ is _ still way too early to be awake doing a favor for someone, but he's pretty  _ done _ with secrets at this point. Even if it's something that's probably pretty benign in the grand scheme of things.

Van sighs loudly after only a few moments of thought. "Fine. One sec."

There's the sound of multiple doors opening and shutting, loud footfalls on the old creaky farmhouse stairs. And then, after one final door, Van continues.

"Alright, you have  _ got _ to promise you won't say anything to  _ anyone _ , especially Chase. He's terrible with them."

Byrdie's pretty sure Van is worse, considering how quickly he caved, but he keeps his mouth shut.

"Ugh.  _ Yes _ . I'll keep it a secret. Now c'mon, out with it already."

"Okay, well… You see last year Remedy, Ashleigh, and I went to Canada—"

"Wait, like from the coffee shop?"

"Yes. She's Remedy's cousin. And some… things went down last Christmas that she saw. Since they usually go on a Canada trip, we used that as an excuse to wipe her memory and—"

"You do realize how much of a shitty thing that is to do to someone, right."

"We can debate the ethics of mind-wipes later." Van sighs. "While we were in Canada, we ended up having to go to the consulate. And, while we were there, Remedy really connected with this security guard there. And, come to find out, they've been dating ever since! So she, Nessa, wants to come and surprise her with a visit."

"Aww… that's actually pretty cute."

"Right?!" Van clears his throat in a poor attempt to cover his excitement. "Anyways, she's coming down right before Christmas so I'm trying to make it so that Remedy can just take a week off"

"Well that's certainly sweet of you.'

"Thanks?"

"Guess I can take you off my shit list."

"Wait. I was on your shit list? What'd _I_ do?"

"You woke me up at the ass-crack of dawn, what did you expect?"

Byrdie replaces the crop top and pulls out a distressed red sweater. He considers it for a moment before pulling it over his head. He checks himself out in the mirror. It's not the best, but who knows what else he'll be roped into doing today. He starts carding his hands through his jeans drawer in search of the perfect shade.

Van sighs pretty deeply after a long moment of silence.

"I'm glad that I finally got to tell someone else. It's been torture this past week."

He rolls his eyes. "Yeah. Can't imagine that was easy."

"Would you be willing to help later on if I need it? I promise I won't ask too much of you…"

"You know what, so long as it doesn’t have anything to do with the paranormal then sure, why not." He decides on a nearly-black navy skinny jean and pulls it out. "Remember: the moment it turns spooky, I'm out. Got it?"

"Got it. No supernatural requests. Thank you so much!"

"It's for a good cause, so it's whatever."

"The children?"

"No, queer love. Keep up, Van."

There's a beep on Byrdie's phone. He leans over and finds the name 'shady bitch' and Chase's number displayed on the screen.

Byrdie groans.

"I gotta go. Chase is here and I'm not nearly dressed enough to make hundreds of sandwiches."

"It should only be—"

"Bye-e." Byrdie hangs up.

He doesn't answer Chase's phone call, though. Instead, he sends a bunch of texts telling him exactly how long looking fabulous is going to take. He then sets his phone aside and catches the sight of his half-clothed figure in the mirror and makes a face at how unkempt his hair looks. And how smudged last night's makeup is on his face.

God he's got a lot of work to do if he's going to make it through today. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> I hope you guys like me going from character to character! It's kind of hard, but I find it fun to see what everyone's different perspective is on all this. (Also certain things wouldn't be possible if I stuck with Van). 
> 
> I'm not sure exactly how often I'll update. Everything is writtena and typed up, but with the holidays I've been struggling to find a good amount of time to edit. That and I've needed some self-care days 'cause of some personal stuff. Nothing too terrible, but upsetting enough I've needed to be kind to myself. 
> 
> Anyways, please let me know what you think! I'm really excited to share the rest of this with you all and look forward to hearing from you all. ^.^


	3. Chapter 3

"There you are," Hazel says on a sigh, coming to a stop at the bottom of the basement stairs to lean against the doorway.

Rowan is sitting cross-legged on the floor. There are at least half a dozen journals spread around them with a sizable stack leaning against the couch. It's precariously balanced, and Hazel is pretty sure it's going to fall over at any moment now. The TV is going, but it's clear that they aren't really paying it any real attention at this point from the way the news is droning on and on.

They are so engrossed in their work, in fact, that they don't even hear Hazel's none-too-subtle entrance.

Hazel laughs quietly to herself at the sight. It figures that Rowan would be so focused on... whatever it is that they're doing that they wouldn't notice. 

It's endearing, really.

She considers for a few moments doing something to get their attention a bit better. Or seeing if she could get away with surprising them. But that'd be mean. And she isn't in any real rush.

So she waits. 

This isn't exactly what she'd initially thought she'd be doing when she came over to the Farmhouse today, though. In fact, she'd decided to check-in on Van. He'd been another person who had been oddly present in her life following The Incident™, sending her cheery morning texts and quick responses to her memes throughout the day. But, she hadn't really heard from him this past week. She'd convinced herself for a short while that he might be studying, but that just didn't seem like him.

So, Hazel had came over to check on him.

There always seemed to be someone at the Farmhouse, so it'd been a surprise when she'd opened the front door and found no one inside to greet her. She'd called into the house, announcing her presence, but the only response she'd received was the echo of the door clicking closed behind her.

Everything had been shadowed in the waning mid-afternoon sunlight, and Hazel nearly turned around right then. The wrongness of being alone in this ever-occupied place made her skin crawl and her anxiety immediately started searching the shadows for a shape that she knew wasn't to be found. 

But, she'd come to check in on a friend, right? So, despite the static along her skin and in her mind, she'd pressed on. Hoping that there was someone, anyone, in the house besides the menacing shadows that grew with every hesitant step that she took forward. 

Despite her anxiety walking amongst the shadows, Hazel's grateful that she hadn't flung the door back open and sped back to campus. Because, while she'd hoped to find Van, she's not at all opposed to running into the second person to have become an increasingly more present force in her life...

All in all, it doesn't take too long before Rowan glances up, probably to check on their show, and sees Hazel. They start a bit, not expecting her. Hazel purposefully smiles and waves, hoping that they didn't think she'd been a creep for not saying anything.

She just hadn't had the heart to disturb them.

"Finding anything good?" she asks.

Rowan shakes their head, leaning their back into the couch. Hazel half expects the stack beside them to go tumbling down to cover more of the floor. But the moment it starts to teeter, they place a hand on the precipice to keep it still.

"Faith doesn't have much on the Shadow Eater. And it's impossible to find anything without Van, Chase, or Remedy." They close their eyes and let out a sigh. "I'd ask one of them for help, but they're all so busy. And gone for that matter."

"I'm sorry," Hazel says. "Can I help at all?"

Rowan opens an eye and tilts their head slightly. "Why are you sorry?"

"I guess I feel bad that you can't find anything? I imagine it has to be pretty frustrating."

"It's okay. I'm sure I'll find something later." They shrug, jostling the stack a little bit. "What brings you here? Van didn't mention you coming over before everyone left…"

"Well, he hasn't really texted me this past week. I got a bit worried so I thought I'd stop by to check. And, gauging from the mounds of baked goods upstairs I'd guess that he's been pretty stressed. Which would explain the lack of texts…" She's losing focus. "What've you all been up to?"

"Remedy is helping with some… event-play-thing. I think Van, Byrdie, and Chase are helping her? Lance and Damaris are taking tests this week. And I—" They gesture to the papers surrounding them. "am attempting to do research.

"What about you? Are your tests going well?"

"I…" Hazel considers lying to Rowan but can't quite bring herself to do it. They're so trusting and she'd hate to do anything to break that...

A sigh rocks through her and she turns to study an old painting of a white Jesus looking off into the middle distance. "Not really."

She's been avoiding the thought of how poorly her scores are going to be this semester. She'd tried to catch up from the time she lost when the Shadow Eater had taken over her life. But, there was only so much she'd been able to do. It felt impossible. So, she'd… kind of given up on trying. She still turned in everything, and taken what tests she could. But, she couldn’t bring herself to study, which would certainly be reflected on her final grades.

"But…" Hazel tries the word out. It's fragile as it leaves her lips, just as unsure as she is. "But, it should be better next semester. Paranormal entities willing, of course."

It's not a lie if she hopes it to be true, right?

"Do _you_ need help? I can't say I know anything you're studying, but I've helped Van study before. I can make a mean flashcard."

She laughs. 

"Thanks for the offer, but there isn't really anything I can do at this point. I appreciate the thought, though. It means a lot.

Hazel can feel Rowan looking at her, but she still can't quite bring herself to meet their gaze. She's pretty sure her smile is a little too tight, but she doesn't really want to worry Rowan too much. They already have so much on their plate already. And, as unsure of how much her degree has been fucked up, everything has to get better eventually, right? 

"What did Van make?" Rowan asks, thankfully, changing the subject.

"I think I saw mostly sugar cookies? There were some brownies and chocolate pretzels, too."

Rowan nods and then starts picking up the papers around them. "Van showed me how to make 'the best hot chocolate in the world.' Do you want to help me make some?"

"I… guess?" Hazel watches them a bit bemused. "What about your research?"

"It'll be here later." They shrug as they stand and walk the papers to the study. They're back a moment later and walk past Hazel, waving for her to follow them.

"Van was also pretty insistent that cookies help to 'solve everything.' I'm not sure what's so magical about them. But, perhaps it's putting them together with the hot chocolate is where the real magic is? Or maybe..."

Hazel loses herself a bit as they continue to theorize on the magical properties of cookies and hot chocolate. Before she quite knows what's going on, she's seated at the brightly-lit kitchen table, steaming mug in hand, and a plate of cookies placed between the two of them. She's pretty sure she helped them, somehow, but she'd been so lost in thought about everything that it feels as though she's just now catching up.

Rowan's talking about something that happened on a show they've been watching lately. It's still a reality show, but Hazel isn't sure which one. Perhaps a cooking one? She doesn't really have the energy to absorb any information about it right now, but it's comforting to sit here with them as they talk.

"Thanks," she says when they lapse into silence. Her voice is a bit meek, but she does her best to look them in the eyes, hoping to convey how much this has meant to her.

Hazel thought she'd just come over to say hi, check on Van, and… And who knows what really. If she's being honest, she'd been looking for an excuse to ignore the piles of half-finished notes on her computer and half-packed bag waiting for her to pick it up and go home for winter break. If she hadn't have come over she probably would have just stared at both, hoping that they would magically take care of themselves.

She kind of prefers this alternative ending to her evening, though.

"Of course. And, if you ever want to talk I'm here." Rowan smiles, but then freezes. "U-unless I'm watching over Lance. Or, on a mission. Or—"

"I understand." Hazel giggles. "I think this is good enough for right now."

And it really is.

She may not be any closer to catching up. Or figuring out what she's going to tell her parents about her grades. But Rowan's helped her to pause just long enough to catch her breath.

Which is more than enough, really. Because, in this moment as Rowan smiles at her, Hazel can feel a bit of hope worming it's way into her heart. It's warm, and she can't help the small smile that breaks out across her own face.

Maybe things really will be better next semester.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I have to admit I have a soft spot for shipping Rowan with Hazel and Van. I just think all three of them are so cute. So, while this whole chapter doesn't necessarily do a whole lot for like... everything plot wise, I just couldn't not write it. So I hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> As always, please let me know what you think and I hope you have a good new year!


	4. Chapter 4

Chase is getting pretty damn tired of these fetch quests.

This has to be, like, the tenth time that Van's asked him to go out shopping for this damn celebration-thing. Normally he’d complain, try to weasel his way out of it, and eventually do it without minding all that much. But Van’s been so scatterbrained lately that he keeps sending Chase out for just one or two items at a time that he needs 'right away'.

It's getting to be pretty ridiculous at this point, really.

What's worse is that Van's been sending Byrdie to tag along. Which wouldn't be terrible, except that Chase is quite sure that Byrdie is supposed to be his damn babysitter or something in all of this. He doesn't have any concrete proof that Van put him up to this. But he's  _ pretty  _ sure. 

Like almost 100% sure.

Right now, he and Byride are supposed to be picking up a tree and more decorations for the house. Then they're supposed to  _ actually _ decorate it. Which, hey, Chase doesn't hate decorations or anything, but that's usually Remedy's gig, so it's weird that Van is taking charge of it now.

Maybe _ he's  _ hoping to take charge of the sect one day…

"Are you going to help me pick a damn tree or what?" Byrdie asks, annoyed.

"I'm sure you've got this," Chase says, smirking.

"God, you're impossible." Byrdie walks ahead towards a row of trees that look to be… dismal at best.

Chase feels his smile slipping off of his face as he comes to a stop before the Charlie Browniest of Charlie Brown trees. 

"Hey," he calls out towards an attendant. "We'll take—"

"That one!" Chase says, pointing at random. Any tree would be better than—

"You got a place big enough for Big Bertha?" The attendant asks. "She's about 25 feet tall…"

Chase considers the tall tree that is obviously too big for the house. Maybe they could get away with putting it outside…

"Ye—"

" _ No."  _ Byrdie levels Chase with a murderous glare. "Can you point us to a good six foot tall tree?"

"Sure? The attendant, her name tag reads Cassidy, says as she backtracks towards a line of trees that are clearly marked as being the right height. Now how did they miss something like that?

"Well you're no fun," Chase says. "We could have put it outside… and I'm pretty sure we have a really tall ladder somewhere…"

"If you want to explain to Van why we went one hundred and fifty dollars over budget, be my guest."

"What, you're not going to pay for it?"

"I'm already spending far too much of Whitney's money on Christmas thank you very much."

"What, getting a fourth phone?" Chase laughs. He's seen Byrdie's revolving door of phones. He's pretty sure he has at least three, but he really only sees his rose gold and gawdawful lime green phones.

"I am, actually." Byrdie sniffs. "Whitney approved getting another line. So, I'll be getting Rowan a phone."

Chase stops short. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah? It's pretty impossible to keep track of them otherwise. And I'm pretty sure they're not going to get one on their own since they don’t have a job."

"Yeah…" Chase points at a pretty average tree. "That work for you?"

Byrdie nods.

They watch as Cassidy calls over another attendant and they get to work cutting it down. Before Chase knows it, they're fastening it to the top of the van while he packs away a tree kit alongside all of the other decorations they'd purchased earlier.

Neither of them really say much of anything until they're halfway back to the Farmhouse.

"You know," Chase says. "If I knew getting a new phone was an option, I'd have put it on my list."

"Yeah, that's only for friends that haven't killed a parent of mine."

Chase grips the steering wheel. He's done a valiant job of avoiding this topic. But, it was probably bound to come up eventually. He just wishes it this could have waited until after he's done driving.

"You know, Larkin—"

"I'm talking about my mom, dumbass."

Chase does his best not to flinch.

"What about her?"

"Chase."

He keeps his eyes on the road, but he'd almost bet money that Byrdie's eyes look pretty unnatural right about now.

"Yes?"

"Can you just give me a straight answer for once?"

"That's rich coming from you." Chase laughs awkwardly to himself.

The car goes unnaturally silent and he knows Byrdie is well beyond his surprisingly long patience. And, whatever bridge was left standing between them is currently dripping in kerosene, waiting for Chase to drop the lit match in his hand and set it ablaze.

It's tempting— ruining everything. Especially when going out in a blaze of glory was, quite literally, stolen from his grasp about a month ago now.

He takes a deep breath.

And decides to blow the flame out.

"I didn't want to risk her going to Larkin," he says after a while. "It was stupid, but I wasn't exactly thinking too clearly after having not slept for nearly three days."

Byrdie stays silent.

"Look. I'm not expecting you to forgive me—"

"Good. I'm not going to."

He nods, but doesn’t say anything.

In fact, neither of them say a word to each other the rest of the night.

It makes for an odd sight: the two of them putting up overly-cheerful decorations with serious looks on their faces. Van even comments on it at some point. But he doesn’t press further, which is probably for the best. 

Because, while the bridge is still miraculously standing between them, Chase isn’t sure how long that is going to last. Byrdie has his own match, and if Chase says the wrong thing, he’s pretty sure that Byrdie’ll let it fly, consuming it. 

And he’d really prefer that not to happen if he can help it 

Because, while Chase has never really tried to have a close friend before, he’s been fine on his own up until this point thank you very much… There’s a part of him that thinks that he might like to now. 

And while that’s probably far from a possibility between himself and Byrdie (and this small amount of peace probably isn’t going to last all that long because he’ll probably open his mouth and fuck it all up) there is still a part of him that hopes for it. So he does his best to bite his tongue and ride it out for now. And, while it’s somewhat grating, it’s at least  _ something _ .

Which is probably more than he deserves, but he’ll take what he can get at this point.

He’ll have to, really. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! This got a bit more introspective than I thought it would, but I really needed to address this between the two of them for my own sanity. ^^; 
> 
> Anyways, please let me know what you thought of this! We've got two more chapters and then this'll be over!


	5. Chapter 5

Today is the dress rehearsal for the Community Christmas Celebration and Lance is doing everything in his power to avoid it.

It's not like he has anything against it. In fact, he can remember having a blast with his parents at all of the activities in year’s past. But, Remedy, Van, and everyone else have been just so gung-ho about preparing for it and he just… really needs a break from all of them.

Van, of all people, has had a very hard time respecting his need for space. He always seems to be asking him for favors and preparation help, but Lance just leaves all of his messages on read and goes back to whatever he'd been doing before.

Most everyone else has caught on that he wants absolutely nothing to do with anything monster-related. Even Rowan has been giving him space. He can't say that he's completely happy with the distance that has started to grow between he and everyone else. But, when you only have one thing in common with someone, and you avoid that thing at all costs… It's only inevitable, really.

His father has been an absolute godsend throughout all of this, though.

At first, he doesn't ask many questions about Lance’s sudden need to hide in the various nooks and crannies of the shop. So long as his son is going to class and taking all of his necessary finals, Phillip is happy. Once the semester is over, though, Lance finds that the conversations start flowing. They talk about nearly everything that has happened this semester. At first, Lance had been reluctant. He'd thought that Van had wiped his father's memories following the fight. But, for whatever reason, his memory is still intact.

Which has been both a blessing… and a curse.

On one hand, he's been beyond understanding of all the absences Lance's had earlier in the semester. It's so very refreshing to talk about all of what's happened with someone who isn't really involved. He didn't realize just how much it'd hurt to keep everything in and away from his parents until he'd had no choice. Having this support back has done a lot for Lance's sanity, and he's very grateful for it. 

On the other hand…

"So, when're you going to ask this Mike guy out?"

Phillip has been downright  _ insufferable _ in how supportive he's been of Lance's coming out. He's pretty sure his father has inhaled at least five self-help books and two podcasts this past month alone. And, to top it all off, he keeps gently pushing his son towards doing something about his crush on Mike.

He hadn't really pried too much yet, but when Damaris and Mike had showed up at the shop earlier today, to say hi… Lance may have gotten so flustered that he'd sent the cutlery he'd been polishing for the past two hours  _ flying _ . Thankfully it'd all landed on the ground.. He's not sure he would be able to handle accidentally hurting Mike like that.

Lance also isn't sure how Phillip is interpreting such an embarrassing experience as an opportunity to confess his feelings to Mike. He should, instead, go find a hole in the ground and pray for the earth to swallow him up. Or hop onto I-90 and drive all the way to Seattle. Both were viable options when you were suffering from extreme embarrassment, right?

"I'm sure he's busy Dad," Lance says, refusing to look at his father.

"I don't know. He seemed pretty not-busy today. And you're not obligated to be here…"

"Can't I want to spend time with my dad?"

"I'm pretty sure all of this has more to do with avoiding certain friends as opposed to spending quality time with your old man," Phillip says, pointedly.

Lance refuses to respond, and Phillip doesn't push further. Silence hangs heavily in the room, but not so much so that the elephant cannot be seen plainly now that Phillip has shone a small amount of light on it.

The silence stretches for far too long. He should… And, just as Lance is about to finally talk about who he is… Who he supposedly was… And why he _ can’t _ leave—

_ Quack! Quack!Quack! _

His phone goes off.

Lance pulls his new phone out of his pocket and places it on the counter carefully. He doesn't look at it, though. Instead, he starts to carefully arrange the polished knives so that they lay prettily in the velvet cushion of the silverware chest before him.

_ Quack! _

He closes the cutlery case, stands, and then carefully places the box back where it is supposed to be: on a shelf beside the front counter. He can feel his father staring at him as he arranges the price card carefully, doing everything he can to ignore the stream of text messages that he is almost certain have to do with something paranormal.

"Are you going to…?"

Lance sighs. He'd like to think that he could say no at this point. But the truth is that he's far enough into all of this that he'd feel terrible for the rest of his life if anything happened to his friends.

Damn his sense of responsibility.

"Yes."

He walks back to the counter and flips his phone over. From the frequency of text messages he'd expected it to have been Byrdie. Instead, he has an ungodly amount of texts from Van.

_ "Lance! _

_ I have a huge favor to ask. _

_ Can you call me? _

_ It's really important. I promise I'll pay you back, whatever it is! _ "

It takes everything inside of Lance not to throw his phone at the ground. He doesn't want to play hunter today. Hell, he doesn't even want to play DD tonight. Can't the Kindred just leave him the fuck alone?!

Sighing loudly, and probably far longer than appropriate while around other people, he calls Van.

Who picks up immediately.

Oh, thank  _ God _ ," he says in a hushed voice. "Lance, please tell me you have your car nearby?

“Yes?”

"Okay, good. Byrdie's on his way over. He'll pay for all the gas and I'll do whatever you want. I swear—"

"Van. Slow down, what's going on?"

"Okay so Remedy's girlfriend is flying into Columbus—"

"Remedy has a girlfriend? When did  _ that  _ happen?"

"Yes. Sometime this year? I don't know! Apparently her car rental got double-booked so she's stranded at the airport. I'd drive over, but Chase and I are—" Van's voice becomes muffled. "Yeah… I'm fine. Just… too many cookies?"

Van curses into the phone loudly enough that Lance jumps.

"We're at rehearsal," he continues. "And it'll ruin the surprise if either of us go. And—"

"So you want me to go all the way to Columbus to pick her up?"

"Yes. You can use my card to pay for food and gas and—"

"It's whatever at this point" Lance retrieves his coat from the coat rack at the front of the store and starts putting it on. "Does he know I'm at my dad's shop?"

"Yes. Thank you so much. I owe you big."

"It's whatever." He eyes his father. "But, I think I'll cash that favor in right now: never touch my parent's memories."

Van sucks in a breath. "Shit. Lance—"

"You did say anything."

Van groans. "Fine. If Remedy ever asks me I'll talk her out of it."

Lance spots a blur outside the window that he's pretty sure is Byrdie making his way to the shop at an unhuman-like speed.

"Then we're square. I'll have Byrdie text you when we get close."

Lance doesn't wait for Van to say anything before hanging up. He turns to his father. "I have to go pick up Remedy's girlfriend from the Columbus airport."

Phillip nods and starts reaching for his back pocket, presumably for his wallet, the same moment the store bell rings above his head and Byrdie comes to a stop beside him.

"It's fine,  _ he— _ " Lance jerks a thumb at Byrdie. "—is paying for the trip."

His dad pulls his hand away and nods. "Okay. I'll let your mother know that you won't be at dinner. Drive safe, alright? I hear it might snow tonight."

"I will."

“Good.” Phillip smiles. "I love you, Lance."

Lance pauses and smiles at his dad. 

“I love you, too, Dad.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Just one more chapter after this. 
> 
> Also, please let me know what you thought! I'm hoping to write/post more Unexplored Places fics in the future so I'd love to hear what you guys would like to see. Right now I have two post-Deliverance pieces that need typed up/edited and (hopefully) a short Tango Sector piece that I'd like to write and post that focuses on some down-time shenanigans.


	6. Chapter 6

Remedy is about to lose her goddamn  _ mind _ .

It's been rough since Zeke left all of them. That isn't to say he doesn't still… keep in contact. But there's only so much he can do for the group when just the presence of humans can send him over the edge. And the fact that he can’t seem to give her any actual  _ useful _ advice certainly isn’t helping anything.

See, she has absolutely  _ no idea _ what she's doing. And, now that she's supposedly in charge of everything from fighting the paranormal to paying the Farmhouse's bills to dealing with Chase's mood swings to making sure the kids are entertained at youth group… Sure, she's done some of this before, but to have all of it, all at once…

It’s been exhausting, to say the least.

And, to top it all off, she's been tasked with directing this year's Community Christmas Celebration pageant. She isn’t quite sure why the committee decided that  _ she _ should be the director, though. One moment she was attending the meeting in Zeke's stead, and the next she was directing a young wiseman on stage to not destroy the set with Van at her elbow, hoping that it would all come together tomorrow night.

"Maybe he should just be an angel," Van murmurs. "Then he only has to be on stage once."

"You think so?" Remedy asks, turning to Van.

He jumps a bit, not expecting an answer it seems. "Uh. Either that or give him something a bit more active."

Remedy hums, thinks on it, but ultimately allows the play to continue in front of them, uninterrupted.

Van's been a godsend in all of this. Stepping up to help as much as he can and taking on more responsibility at the Farmhouse when she can’t be there. He’s even gone so far as to work as her co-director after he found her pulling her hair out one night when she couldn’t decide which nativity script to go with. 

She's not sure how she'd have survived this if it weren't for his help.

But, despite that, he's been kind of spacey all day. And he’s been constantly checking his watch to the point that she asked if he needed to be somewhere (a fact that he vehemently denied). There was even one time today when he had disappeared suddenly in the middle of assisting her with the set. Which had gone on so long that she’d had to spend quite a bit of time to track him down in the old movie theater's creepy backstage bathroom to make sure that he was okay.

Honestly she’d spent far too much time worrying about Van today.

"You okay?" She asks. Half of the group, a mixture of children of all ages from the different churches in town, is taking a break while the other, dressed in robes, are receiving musical instructions by the choral director. (Which thank  _ god _ she didn’t have to do that, too.) 

"Yeah!" Van says, all smiles. "Everything is peachy! What about you?"

"O-oh." Remedy says, not expecting the quick return. "I'm fine."

She does her best not to frown as she checks her own phone.

Still nothing from Nessa…

It's not exactly odd that her girlfriend has gone silent. She does have her own life after all. But, usually she responds by this time in the evening. Or at least sends an emoji so that Remedy knows that she's alright. Instead, there's still just Remedy's  _ "Good morning! <3" _ message sitting in her inbox, unanswered.

Nessa has been another blessing throughout all of this mess. Remedy never thought she'd ever start up a long-distance relationship. But, the two had started talking in February, Remedy visited her in the summer, and then they were talking to each other every day and Remedy wasn't really looking for anyone else.

It's hard, of course it is, but the constant support despite the distance has really made a difference. And helped keep her sane. So, Remedy doesn't question her luck too much.

"When is rehearsal done tonight?" Van asks, fidgeting with his watch.

"Eight. We have to run through everything two more times, in costume, and then it'll be as good as it can get."

Van nods, but doesn't say any more.

She's about to comment about how he should already know that. But, that's the moment when the music director waves her over for her opinion on something. Soon the question leaves her entirely. And then she's so caught up in the production that she forgets it and moves on.

* * *

"Okay, tell me: What the hell is  _ up _ with you tonight?" Remedy asks on their way back to the Farmhouse.

Van’s squirrelly attitude only gotten worse from that point on, and it drove Remedy absolutely mad. She did her best to stay as professional as she could. But she’d probably gone a bit too far when he’d missed his cue to turn on a spot light onto Mary and Joseph surrounding babydoll Jesus in a manger because he’d been messing with his damn watch. 

"What do you mean?" Van asks.

"What do I —" Remedy is at a loss for words for all of one moment. "First off, you were on your phone constantly tonight, then you just disappeared for nearly half an hour, and now you're changing the radio station every thirty seconds! And don't even get me started on the  _ mountain  _ of baked goods sitting on the kitchen counter."

Van cringes. "I said I'd give most of that away to the kids…"

"Yeah, I'm a bit more focused on the fact that you were spending so much time  _ baking _ . I've spent enough time with you to know the difference between baking for fun and baking away your stress."

Van goes silent.

After a bit too much time has passed, Remedy sighs.

"Look, if it's a personal thing that's fine. And I don't want to pry, but you do know that you can talk to me right?"

"Yeah… Yeah, I know."

Remedy looks out the window and lets the conversation drop. Neither of them says anything else the rest of the ride. Thankfully, Van doesn't touch the radio and they are left listening to a local station playing various pop songs. 

It takes everything in her not to sigh too loudly when they finally come to a stop and park behind Lance's car. It'd started snowing on their way out to the Farmhouse and all she wanted to do was make a late supper, make hot chocolate and curl up in front of.

Wait.

"What's Lance doing here?" Remedy wonders aloud as she pulls on her gloves and exits the car.

"I think Rowan said something about him coming over to visit?"

Remedy looks out across the nearby field and finds it difficult to see further than halfway across it. Thankfully it's not frigid, but she could definitely see why the forecast wasn't supposed to be very promising for the next few days. She should probably find Lance and encourage him to go home before he got stuck out here.

She can sense the looming question of how feasible it will be to have the celebration tomorrow, but she ignores it in favor of making her way into the Farmhouse.

"Van, can you find Lance?" She asks as she shrugs off her coat and gloves, hanging them up on the row of coat hooks in the foyer. Most of them are full, which isn't necessarily odd, but as she straightens her own out she finds that she doesn't recognize all of them. Maybe Lance bought a new one?

She shrugs the thought off and pauses to kick off her boots.

"I don’t want him getting… stuck…"

Words fail her as she registers Nessa coming to stand in the entryway.

"Nes?" Remedy asks, her boots falling from her loose grip onto the floor with a slap.

"Hey, Rem," her girlfriend says, a smile breaking out across her face. "Long time no see, hu-uh!"

Remedy is hugging her before she can say any more. It's a bit desperate, and it takes a few moments for Nessa to reciprocate, but she can't seem to find it in herself to care all that much.

After a few moments she pulls back go get a good look at her and verify that she, in fact, is here in her arms.

"What are you  _ doing  _ here!?" Remedy asks.

"I came to visit you!

"But— But how?!"

Van’s waving catches Remedy's attention.

"He helped a lot." Nessa smiles wide. "Surprise?"

"You can say that again!" Remedy says, breathlessly. She turns to Van and gives him a look. "Is this why you've been acting so weird lately?"

"Guilty as charged." He laughs. "I think the hardest part was telling only the people who need to know so that you didn't accidentally find out."

"I'm surprised that no one said anything."

"That's 'cause I didn't tell Chase."

"I could have kept it a secret!" Chase yells from somewhere further inside the house.

"Yeah, but you can't keep a secret from Remedy!" Van yells back. "Remember her Birthday?"

"Yes! Everything turned out amazing!"

Van groans. "Excuse me. I've got to set him straight."

"Can you talk to Lance about the weather while you're at it?"

"Sure can."

And then, it's just her and Nessa in the foyer.

"Do you mind if we move to the kitchen? I haven't had anything since lunch…"

"Of course." Nessa backs up to allow Remedy by her. "There should be leftover pizza in there. Van ordered a lot. He also baked some treats for us."

"He does that when he's stressed," Remedy says off-handedly as she goes to the fridge to get some pizza. She's so hungry that she's tempted to just eat it cold. But, if she's being honest, she prefers it warmed up. She stops short, though, when she opens the box to find a pepperoni and mushroom pizza waiting for her.

Her favorite…

She doesn't realize she's crying until Nessa envelops her back, whispering comforting words into the top of her head.

"S-sorry," she says trying to wipe at her eyes. "It's just been so— so  _ much _ lately and—"

"It's alright, no need for apologies." Nessa squeezes her gently and pulls her close. "What do you need?"

"S-some pizza?" She hiccups. "And this. This is really nice…"

"I think I can do that." She kisses her temple and reaches over and pulls off the top paper plate from the stack on the counter. She has to let go to fully navigate retrieving a few slices. Remedy misses it, but does her best not to whine.

"Hot or cold?"

"Hot, please."

Nessa nods and walks the plate over to reheat it. Remedy shivers in the chilled air spilling from the open fridge door and pulls out a water bottle before finally closing it. Tears still cling to her eyelashes, but as Nessa walks her over to the kitchen table, they start to dry. She sits down at the slightly cluttered table, but doesn't relax until Nessa is sitting right beside her, pizza steaming before her.

"Thanks."

"Of course." Nessa hesitantly starts rubbing her back. "Should I not have surprised you?"

"No. No, the surprise was wonderful. And I'm so happy you're here. I think the last two months are just finally catching up to me is all. It's…" she sighs, leaning into Nessa's touch. "It's been a lot."

"That's what I gathered."

Remedy hasn't exactly been the most honest with her girlfriend about all of The Kindred Stuff. But, since the outside obligations had finally caught up with the group, she'd been able to deflect any explanations onto that. Add in the truth of Zeke leaving and her girlfriend had been able to listen to at least a little bit of her troubles, shouldering a few and helping to ease her load just a tiny bit.

If things were ever to become so serious as to involve living together, or even more, she knows that she'd have to come clean about all of the paranormal business surrounding Deliverance. But, they aren't anywhere near  _ that  _ conversation just yet. So, she allows herself to lean into Nessa's side and soak up what affection she's allowed in this moment.

"I do have a little bit of bad news," Nessa says after a little while.

Remedy's heart sinks a little. "Oh?"

"Yes. I was going to offer to take you away from all of this for a week, but the rental company double booked my vehicle." She makes a face. "I'm glad for the refund, but I still think it's dumb that they couldn't figure something out."

"That's okay, I have to direct the pageant tomorrow—"

"No you don't," Van says as he pokes his head into the kitchen.

Remedy gives him a look. "… yes. I do."

"No, you're going to be 'sick' and let your assistant director do the work for you while you go off gallivanting with your girlfriend in another city."

"Do I have no say in all this?"

"You do. But you also need a break."

She turns to Nessa. "How long are you here for?"

"A week if you'll have me."

"If I—" She shakes her head. "Of course I will! I like spending time with you, even if it's only for a short amount of time… And not very often…"

"You could get a whole extra day if you let me take care of the pageant…"

"Yes, but if I want to show Nessa this town an all of the fun quirky things it has to offer, especially the rest of the event, I won't be able to do that. Everyone will know I was playing hooky. And what kind of example would that show the  _ kids _ , Van?"

"It'd show them that self-care is important," Van mutters.

"Van," Remedy says, exasperated. "I appreciate everything you've done, but I'd worry too much to enjoy myself. Besides, I'll be able to relax better knowing it all went well. A distracted vacation isn't much of a vacation at all, you know."

Van sighs and looks to Nessa for assistance.

"As long as I get to spend time with you, I'm game for almost anything," Nessa says, squeezing Remedy's shoulder reassuringly.

Van gasps, clutching his chest in mock betrayal. "How  _ could  _ you?!"

"Easily," Nessa laughs.

"See if I help you plan an extravagant surprise for your girlfriend ever again," he tries to say seriously, but a sly smile easily betrays him.

"I think I'll wait a bit before pulling off a surprise like this again. So don't stress out too much about it." Nessa laughs.

Van looks to Remedy for a moment. She's not sure what he sees (she hadn't cried that much had she?), but he nods, thoughtful.

"Probably a good idea. You can't stop me from delegating chores to Chase for the next week so that you can't worry about them, though."

"I suppose I will just have to suffer for the next week without such a burden. Oh. Whatever shall I do?"

Van and Nessa laugh loudly and Remedy can't help the smile breaking out across her face.

They chat for a bit longer. Remedy's been done with her late meal for a while, but Van waves her off to go rest. It feels weird seeing the notoriously irresponsible Van acting so… responsible, but she doesn't have too much energy left to ponder it too much tonight.

Nessa follows Remedy towards the bedrooms. They're holding hands, so when she hesitates in front of Remedy's door, Remedy finds herself coming to a stop, too. She can almost hear the second-guessing going on in Nessa's head.

Better put that to bed, too.

"Do you want to change and join me?" Remedy offers. "I'm probably just going to go to sleep, but you're more than welcome to join me if you'd like."

"Will there be cuddling involved?"

"…Maybe," Remedy teases.

"Then I'll be back in five."

Remedy smiles to herself as Nessa scurries off towards the spare room at the end of the hall. She then retreats into her own room to change into shorts and a tank top. She considers the merits of doing more, but her bed just looks far too inviting for her to do anything more than climb under the covers and not fall asleep until Nessa joined her.

She is both relieved and nervous when Nessa enters, momentarily spilling the hallway's ever-present light across Remedy's bed. They've done this before, but it's been a while. Neither of them can quite remember whether it's more comfortable to be close or just barely touching. Eventually, they settle on Nessa wrapping her arms around Remedy like a teddy bear.

Both are exhausted, but neither are ready to sleep. Remedy's mind keeps racing, and from the way Nessa's fingers drum on her stomach, she's pretty confident that her girlfriend's mind can't rest either.

"I'm sorry I overwhelmed you," Nessa says, eventually breaking the silence. "I was just so excited to see you again and—"

"It's okay." Remedy stills Nessa's hand, squeezing it gently. "I'd probably have been just as overwhelmed if you'd sent me some big gift in the mail."

"Okay." She pauses. "…Do you have any days off this week?"

"Oddly enough, Van insisted that he'd plan something this week and that I just  _ had _ to take time off of work to attend it." She can't believe just how transparent his plan had been. She'd just been so focused on what she was doing that she hadn't even considered that there was something else afoot at the time. She feels a bit silly, but hindsight is 20/20 and all that.

Nessa sighs. "Then we can do whatever we want after tomorrow?"

"Now, don't get any wild ideas there."

"Is staying in bed until noon too crazy?"

Remedy  _ laughs _ .

Nessa kisses her temple. "If there are no objections, then my vote is for that."

"Relaxing does sound nice…"

She can feel her eyes growing heavy.

Nessa snuggles even closer to her. "Then it's a date."

"We should… go on a… a real date. While you're… here." She can feel herself starting to lose her grip on the conversation at hand. Her words are probably nearly incomprehensible at this point.

"We'll figure out the other plans later." Another kiss. "Get some sleep, love."

"'kay. 'night, Nes."

"Goodnight, Remedy. Sleep well."

She does.

And it's the best sleep she's had in far too long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap on this story! Thanks so much for reading this. I got a little stuck writing sadder stuff for this on my own when I first finished Deliverance, so it's been great to write something happier. I'll probably share those stories later on, but there are so few stories posted so far that I didn't want my first to be sad. Also I have to type and edit them first so... lol 
> 
> Anyways, please let me know what you thought of this and what you'd like to see more of! I have a lot of writing goals this year (like editing my first novel and starting the next one), but I'd love to write more for The Unexplored Places and other smaller podcasts that deserve a bunch of love. If there's something you'd like to see just comment below or shoot me a message over on one of my tumblrs, skip-to-my-lup or samantha-girlscout. 
> 
> Thanks again and hope to post more soon! 
> 
> ♥

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I took some advice and we're just... ignoring what happened at the end there. I love the ending, I really do, but I also love the idea of everyone having a nice Christmas/Holiday Season. So if we ever do return to Deliverance, please be kind as this fic will most certainly be ignoring that XD
> 
> I have five more planned that I'll be posting, but with my own Christmas plans I just couldn't get them edited fast enough. Anyways, thanks again and please let me know what you think so far! I was a little nervous to post this. This fandom is so much smaller than all of the others I've been in and so it's hard to gauge where to go with things since there are very few fics to read to get a good feel for what people like.


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